Tag: family

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Little John Mountain

We got up a little early this morning so we could have a day up on Petit Jean. Summer took Autumn to get things to make sandwiches while I went home to clean up. Then the girls and my dad met at my house so we could drive up the mountain. We went up the back way and stopped at the bear cave trail first, where we had lunch in the back of the car. It was cool, but great weather to be out in the wilderness. We climbed up on some of the rocks where we found some chiseled out steps, and I collected a few mosses, and Dad took a bunch of pictures of nature. Autumn didn’t originally want to go at all, but once we were there she insisted that her knee was fine to continue trailblazing and climbing up rock faces.

The next stop was Mather Lodge to clean up a bit, and then we continued to the Cedar Falls overlook. As the day progressed, it seemed to get windier and cooler, but the rain never showed up. Summer wanted to go to a new coffee shop on the mountain, so we had some drinks while the girls played Scrabble. Then it was off to the Petit Jean gravesite. That’s where it was the coldest with the most wind. I don’t think Eaddie really put anything together in her head for the homework she had on the subject, but it was still a nice day to get out of doors. It was personally very aggravating to feel how I’ve aged since I last spent any significant amount of time hiking, and I think Dad felt the same way. I guess the best thing any of us can do is keep at it to maintain dexterity.

We took the interstate back home, which felt quite a bit longer, and definitely more boring. Dad and Summer each went home while the girls stayed with me to watch TV while I started some laundry. Once that was done, Summer came back and we met my parents at Bocadillo for a birthday dinner and ice cream. Mom didn’t seem too happy that it wasn’t the same type of Mexican place they usually visit, but I thought it was good. Afterward we got some dessert and I split a strawberry and cream funnel cake with Summer and Eaddie that was just divine.

With this year’s birthday plans out of the way, I took the girls back to their car and went to Amanda’s to check on her cats one last time. Then it was back home to finish up some laundry before bed.

I’ve really taken a lichen to you.

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Dungeons & Dragons & Knights, Oh My!

I got up this morning and warmed up some leftovers as Summer motivated the kids to start chores. Eventually she left for a manicure and the gym, and I went home to do some cleaning up myself. I had to stop by Amanda’s first to check on the cats, then went home and took care of my own. I did a little quick maintenance on the fish tanks as well, and made time for a couple rounds of Overwatch with Johnny.

The evening snuck up on me pretty quickly, and I headed back to Summer’s for our night of Dungeons & Dragons with Travis, John, and Melissa. I stopped by Dollar General for some snacks first, then we made our way up the hill. The two kids didn’t show up, but I think overall it was better for it. We had only really done one little short prebuilt campaign before, so this was our first time with character sheets and the like, and I think it stressed Travis out a little too much. We ended up quitting really early and just sat around quietly visiting for a little longer before going home.

Summer crawled into bed pretty quickly with Autumn, so I started the old musical Camelot that I picked up with some Amazon digital credits. I remembered precious little of the movie from my very early childhood, but it’s always stuck in my mind, so I figured why not burn some free credits on it. Eaddie started to watch it with us, but then almost immediately left when she realized what it was. Autumn fell asleep to it really early as well. Summer made it a little over halfway before asking if it was some kind of 4-hour feature, so we quit there.

Never be too disturbed if you don’t understand what a woman is thinking. They don’t do it very often!

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Tron of the Jumbo Variety

I spent a while this morning trying to reverse engineer the closed circuit television system in the arena. I didn’t actually get it working as they expected, but I did get to control the Jumbotron for a bit in my experimentation.

Summer had a moment to get away from work and have a salad with Ronda and me at Ruby Tuesday, where the stench still lingered all through the bar area. After lunch, I mostly worked on things in my office until quitting time.

When I got home, I played a little Overwatch, did a little cleaning, then picked up the girls from karate. Summer cut up a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies for dinner, and then we had a long heart-to-heart until bedtime.

You felt the gravity of tempered grace falling into empty space.

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Pancakes on Pancakes

Summer took Autumn to Stoby’s this morning so she could prep for their Explorers fundraiser. Then the rest of us got up and headed down for all-you-can-eat pancakes. The food was simple, but filling. We didn’t stay long since Noah had to go to work. We stopped by Amanda’s so I could bring some packages in for her, and then went to my house until Autumn was done.

Summer took him to work while I showered, and then we watched some Glee. The breakfast lasted until around 2, so we went to Walmart to kill some more time until Autumn finished. Then we picked her up and headed home. I kept fussing at her that I was hungry, and that she should make us dinner after having worked for half a day. Unsurprisingly she passed on the opportunity. We watched some more Glee until dinner time, then I grilled some more burritos.

After we ate, Summer wanted to play some Catan, but we quit at 7 points since the kids were fussy and needed to go to bed anyway.

I will trade you one random lumber card for five lumber.

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Fish and Burritos

We didn’t do much this morning. The kids ate whatever frozen food they could find, and I picked at some leftovers. Eventually I left for home as Summer went in for work, and the kids were left with a bunch of chores to avoid.

I played some Overwatch for a while before eventually taking a shower. The Reddit email digest I received today had a listing for some Salvinia minima in Arkansas, so I reached out and found out she happens to be in town, so hopefully I’ll have a local aquascaping friend soon.

As Summer got off of work and headed to the gym, I ran by Casey’s to discover they were out of their freebie, then continued on to Walmart to get dinner. Epic burritos are relatively cheap, quick, and easy. I managed to get most of the food ready before Summer made it home, and then I rolled and grilled burritos in a skillet. The kids wanted to watch Return of the Jedi with us, but fell asleep about halfway through. I guess sitting around watching TV and playing video games all day really tired them out.

Burrito in; burrito out.

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Love is a Space Battlefield

Today felt really cold for all the wind. We had a little bit of a meeting this morning, but no projects. I eventually made it to the high school to work on a few things, but made it back to the shop for lunch. Seven of us agreed on Brick Oven, where I ordered the prettiest, but most disappointing salad I’ve had in a while. I think the $10 price tag was what made it most disappointing, because there was absolutely nothing complicated about its ingredients. It was just a bunch of iceberg lettuce, disguised under a ton of ranch and sriracha. All the flavor really just came from the heat, and it didn’t feel nutritious at all. I might as well have just sucked on a bottle of sriracha.

After lunch, I went back to the high school and tinkered with things. I’m pretty sure the sound system in the crimson room had incorrect parts to route the computer sound to the overhead speakers, but I don’t know who originally set it up or what they had in mind. I did the best I could, but at the end of the day it still just won’t work because it doesn’t have the right parts.

I went home for a little while after work before heading across town. I had to stop stop by Amanda’s to take a package inside for her, then made my way to my parents’ house. I got to see the new lighting along 12th street, and man was it an utter shitshow. The lights were way too bright and glaring, and cast way too much light outward right at eye level. They’d be cool with flame bulbs I guess, but at their current brightness they might as well just bulldoze the school and build the casino right there in the middle of all that light.

I didn’t stay for any length of time since Summer had picked up a bucket of chicken strips for dinner. The kids ate, and then Summer and I picked at what they were made to leave us. Noah sat everyone down to watch Star Wars: A New Hope. I think the girls started to fall asleep about halfway through the movie, but after it was over I played some stuff on YouTube until we all shuffled off to bed.

It’s good to be curious about many things!

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Genius Stew

It was pretty cold out today, but at least it had stopped raining. I started off in the fieldhouse, then went on in to tackle whatever I could find. Allen called for Taco Villa, so I picked him up and we managed to squeak in right before the rush hit. We stopped for a free beef jerky stick at Casey’s on the way back to the shop, and then I eventually made my way back to the high school.

I spent a little time stirring the pot in the library, fussing over inconsistencies in hiring practices. At least I also closed out several work orders, so I felt accomplished, and everywhere I went, it seemed people were exceedingly pleased with me. I was upset to get a laptop back from the service center without any repairs done at all. I guess I can’t decline the paid battery replacement without also declining the rest of the repair. I really was expecting to see the rest of it repaired so I could get it back out into circulation.

After work, I ran by Starbucks to get a BOGO drink for Summer. Then I ran home to change before meeting her at Chili’s. The girls went out with their father after karate, so we got to have our early date night. The place was packed, given that there was one section completely closed down. Surprisingly our service was actually really good, and the food seemed to come in surprising portions.

When we got back home, we watched an episode of Glee until the girls got home, and then I played a round of Overwatch until bed.

What would you do if you were going to die, and how did you convince yourself that you weren’t?

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Lunch With Newbies

I got up a little early this morning to pick up a breakfast pizza for work. The two new guys started today, so they were off with some of the others doing new hire stuff all day. My morning was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. I barely made it back to the shop by lunch time, though that ended up not mattering much because Zach was at London with Josh and didn’t make it back until about half an hour later.

Greg, Ben, and I met them at Brangus where Ben ended up buying all of our food since we were the only ones that showed up for the traditional new-guy lunch. Hearing them in conversation helped me feel a little better, but I’m still bitter about their starting salaries. I guess there’s just no getting around it now, so I’ll just have to move up by moving out when I have the opportunity.

My afternoon went by pretty quickly too, as the high school had their parent-teacher conferences. I got a few things done, and then Melinda sent word that central office was sending us home an hour early. I went home for a little while until Summer got back home with Eaddie. She stir-fried some leftovers, and then we watched a couple episodes of Glee before bed.

To work, or not to work…

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No Phasing Them

We got up this morning and picked at some leftover breakfast from last week. I eventually made it home to clean up after the cat and hang out for a while. I played a bit of Overwatch and took a shower with my nice new bath towels. They’re almost too plush, but I assume that will wash down a bit. One of the hand towels frayed on one side, but I couldn’t find any way to contact the manufacturer. I guess I could contact J. C. Penney and pursue a refund that way, but that sounds horrible. I might as well just keep the stupid thing.

Summer made fajitas for dinner and had Nick’s son Zach over to hang out with the girls. I stopped by Casey’s on the way over to convert some old box tops into virtual credits, and the lady had to do it three times before she figured out what was going wrong. Eventually she seemed satisfied with her process and sent me on my way. Dinner was great, and we played some Phase 10 and Mario Kart until Zach went home and everyone went to bed.

Hey Google, play some music, here, in this house, where we are currently located.

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RoboBowl

Summer and Autumn left for a quiz bowl tournament at the junior high his morning, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I tossed around for a while before giving up and heading home to clean up. I had to wash my new towels before putting them away, so I split that up into two loads before taking a shower. Just as I was getting ready to leave the house, Doug came over from next door and asked me to come hook up his old DVD/VCR combo. He had the cable coming out of an input port, so it was an easy fix.

Summer had just finished at her nail appointment as I headed to the junior high, and we pulled into the parking lot at the same time. I went in with her to see the quiz bowl awards before we walked back to the gym area where Oakland was hosting a robotics tournament. Everyone had already packed up and left, and nobody ended up going to Fat Daddy’s afterward, so we ended up just going back home for the day.

Autumn and I went to Dollar General to pick up some pasta, but got sidetracked by a bunch of tables with miscellaneous clearance stuff. She accidentally threw hot pink powdered chalk all over my light button-up shirt, but luckily it mostly shook out. We picked up a few things and headed back so Summer could make dinner. Eaddie had finished, or at least found a bunch of her missing homework that was keeping her grades low, so we let her join us in watching a bunch of Glee before bed.

When we open the lab each morning, we tell the robot to kill.
It’s our little joke.
But secretly, we’re just afraid to tell it to love.